It’s been obvious for some time that Oculus Rift’s future won’t be limited to gaming – and now we know that it’s going to afford viewers of the next David Attenborough series an unprecedented 360-degree view of a flight over Borneo.

Production company Atlantic is creating a version of Conquest of the Skies especially for owners of the Rift. The show, which will be narrated by Attenborough, is currently filming in Borneo using a special eight-camera rig which allows for virtual reality viewing. It’s not yet clear how the VR version will be distributed (presumably it’ll be a download for PCs), but the “normal” 3D version of the two-part show will be broadcast on Sky 3D in late 2014.

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Oculus Rift Developer Kit 2

The virtual reality headset was just purchased by Facebook for US$2 billion (RM12 billion) – and it’s clear that Mark Zuckerburg and co. see its potential as going far, far beyond something that makes FPS games more immersive. Hopefully, Conquest of the Skies will be just the first of many TV shows that uses Rift’s capabilities to entertain and inform.